Hero
by hundan
Summary: He's been told once before that he has a hero complex, however he doesn't know if he wants to be that hero. When you're a man, a man that doesn't stop when he sees another in danger, you run that risk when you intervene.


**I'm back, it's been far too long since my last story, five months to be precise! But I am back into it and as promised I will continue to write! **

**So this one's only a little one, I do have some others I am working on so look out for them! As always enjoy and I always love to hear your thoughts!**

**Hundan**

* * *

He's been told once before that he has a hero complex, however he doesn't know if he wants to be that hero. When you're a man, a man that doesn't stop when he sees another in danger, you run that risk when you intervene. But never would he stand back and watch as a woman was beaten by two males twice her size, while her young daughter stood by and watched, screamed her lungs out and cried while her mother lay helpless.

He makes his decision without thought, knowing that what he was doing was right. Sure it might not be the safest choice, smartest, but he couldn't stand back and watch as someone was attacked viciously, without regard from the men who kicked her in the side like she was a rag-doll.

He orders them to stop, that if they don't give up he'll take action. The deep chuckle from one the men suggests that his threat had in no way frightened the two thugs. But as soon as Tony follows through with his threat, grabbing one of the men and throwing him to the ground, they heed his warning seriously. But they don't take it lightly.

The young girl screams, the woman lay still, while he grabbed one man by the collar, pulling him away from the woman that lay on the ground, away from the young girl. Never would he live with his conscience if he let anything happen to her, not with the angry, murderous look swimming in the mans eyes as he looked at the screaming girl just now.

The odds of two against one are never fair, but he would always take the risk that's necessary for the safety of others. His father told him once that he cared to much about other people and never himself, but that's just who he was. He'd always been more like his mother and less like his father.

And yeah, he could take a hit, but while two men beat down on him -one twice his size- he was starting to feel it. It wouldn't be too great in the morning, if he got that far. Rule number nine not only saved his life, but also the young girl's. He didn't like killing people and espcially not when it was right in front of young eyes but to say he wasn't pleased when the bear of a man that had him gasping for breath fell clutching the knife Tony had lodged in his chest.

The screams from the girl got louder at what she saw, he could see he shaking where she sat on the cold ground of the alley way. Even as the smaller man scuffled away from the scene as quick as he could, the young girl was still far to frightened to move.

Tony began to lose his vision, he couldn't tell what was going on and his head was pounding, there was blood around him but he wasn't sure exactly where it was coming from, was it coming from him? The harder that it became for him to breathe, he figured that yeah, it was coming from him.

He sensed movement and he wasn't sure what it was until their little hand wrapped around his fingers, her other little hand touching his cheek. She realized he wasn't a threat to her.

"Mister?" her little voice was shaken and he blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear his vision so he could see her. Her little face hovered above his, concern was on her face.

"My mommy's not moving mister, please help" she cried, sobs running through her. He tried moving, he tried keeping his eyes open, but he could only do so much as to wrap his hand around her smaller one a little more. If he held onto her hand, inside him he felt as though she would be safe. Just as his eyes closed he felt her small tears drop on his cheek.

* * *

When he wakes up it's a lot brighter than the dark place he was last in, the light of the room was harsh on his eyes. Who knows how long he'd been asleep. His vision was blurry and he blinked a few times, it hurt to move his head but he tried to see something, anything in the room he was in. There was a chair next to his bed, with a coat hanging on it. Someone had been seated in that chair.

He doesn't remember what happened to him or how he got here, all he knows is that he hurts and the light is painful.

Blinking a few more times, he could see the coat more clearly now, it was her coat, Ziva's coat. Ziva had been sitting in that chair. He wasn't surprised, he was sure that she would have been by his side since finding out. When he thinks about it, neither of them have been hospitlised since they started dating about fifteen months ago. He wonders what's been going on in her mind, how she's been reacting. This was all so different for them now that they were together.

He turned his head a little, yeah it hurt but the chance of seeing her somewhere around was worth more than a little pain. He found nothing, he was alone in his room, it was just himself and his lovers jacket. That and his bokay of black flowers on his bedside table. Abby has been to see him.

Trying to sit up proved to be harder than he thought it would, the stabbing pain in his chest was worse than anything. He reached down and pulled the top of his hospital gown down. Across his chest was a bandage, he could see the blood that had seeped into the bandage. What happened to him? Was he shot?

A gentle hand was placed on his one that held the gown down, he looked up to see her face smiling down at him. It was a happy relieved smile. He was awake. However he could still see the pain in the back of her eyes.

"I see you are finally awake" she said softly as she sat next to his side on the bed. Her free hand came up to the side of his face and ran gently through his hair.

"How long have I been out for?" he croaked. He could tell he hasn't used his voice for a few days. Her eyes flickered away from his for a slight second, enough for him to realize the time he'd spent out, had hurt for her.

"Four days" she said quietly. Four days? When he thinks about it, four days isn't a long time, unless of course it's the man you love. Then those four days could be the longest and most insufferable days she would have to have gone through.

"What happened?" he then asked, he knows he was somewhere dark, and at the moment that's all he remembers. Her eyebrows came together and her face pulled a confused look.

"You don't remember?" she asked, he shook his head a little. Her hand in his hair scratched his scalp a little in the way she knows he loves.

"You were stabbed and knocked unconscious, but you saved a little girl and her mother" she said. He thought about it, the situation, and suddenly he remembered the little girl, holding her hand and her asking him to help her mommy.

"They are both okay?" he asked. He was sure the mother wasn't going to make it. Ziva nodded and smiled at him softly.

"The mother has some broken bones and a lot of bruises but she will be alright, she woke up two days ago" Ziva explained. When the woman had woken before Tony, she had begun to worry more and more.

"And the little girl, she's okay?" he asked. His hand moved around hers and weaved their fingers together.

"Yes, not a scratch on her. She's been asking about you" Ziva said. There was that look on her face, the one that always married her when young children were involved. There had always been something that got to her when children were invovled in any sort of danger. Sure anyone would be upset about it, but it's just something a little more when it comes to her. and he knows why, losing her young sister had her reacting like she did.

"Yeah?" he asked. Did the little girl really ask about him? That warmed his heart a little.

"Yes, she asks me every morning if you are awake yet, she even drew you a picture" Ziva explained as she reached over to his bedside table and picked up a piece of paper. He hadn't seen that before. He took the picture from her in his free hand, looking down at the picture, his heart warmed even more. She'd drawn him in a police uniform (she must have found out what his job was) and a little girl was standing next to him, holding his hand. She'd also written 'Thank you Mr Tony' in big letters on the top.

"Tony..." she began and she got what she wanted when he looked up at her "What you did for them, for her, you risked your own life to save them" she said, her voice growing softer "Tony you almost did lose your life" she whispered. The pain he can see in the back of her eyes, it's coming out right now. He knows why she's hurt by what happened, because he almost didn't make it.

And that look on her face, the hurt in her eyes, her heart, is what made being a hero so hard. Giving her that pain is what makes him wonder if it would be easier if he wasn't the type of man to put himself before others, make those sudden decisions to risk his life. Easier if he didn't have that hero complex she is always proudly telling him he has.

But he can't help it and he knows that, he knows he will never change. It's his instinct, who he is and what he will always do. It's just like his love for her, never changing, part of who he is.

He placed the drawing on the table and faced her again, bringing his hand up to the side of her cheek. Her eyes had gone a little watery, however he knows she wont cry.

"But I didn't and I'm still here, right here with you" he assured her. She looked down for a minute, something he knows she does when there's something on her mind but she's not sure if she should share.

"I was worried" she said. There was something in the way she said it that had his gut tingling. His hand on her cheek lifted her eyes to his.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She knew he could tell something more was on her mind. It was going to be hard for her to tell him, harder than it was the first time she told him she loved him.

"I was not just worried for my own sake" she said. When it comes to Ziva she would worry about him for everyone, Gibbs, Abby, McGee, Ducky. Not to mention herself.

"They understand Ziva, they've put up with me doing this for many years-" he began before she interrupted him.

"I was not talking about them Tony" she said quietly. Who was she talking about then?

"Whose sake Ziva, my father?" he asked. He understood her more than anything, but sometimes she could be confusing. She looked away again, there's something big on her mind and he knows it. When she looks back at him, right in his eyes and gives his hand a squeeze he knows that she's going to tell him what that thing is.

"Your childs sake Tony" she whispered. He felt like his heart stopped in his chest right then and there. His childs sake. Is she saying what he thinks she's saying, or his head injury confusing him?

"What?" he asked, a bit speechless. He didn't really know what to say. She smiled a little, because even if he was confused, his eyes were shining with happiness.

"You are going to be a father in the not to distant future" she explained, and then he smiled, really smiled. His hand on her cheek left her face and he ran his palm across her flat stomach. It won't be like that for long. Thinking about the young girl he saved, about holding her smaller hand in his, someday soon he will have that. And he couldn't wait till the day he sees his child for the first time, holds his child for the first time.

"When did you find out?" he asked. He was over the moon. Being a father, and to Ziva's chid, was more than anything he ever wanted.

"Last week, you know that dinner we were meant to go out on two nights ago?" she said. He nodded. "I was going to tell you then, but you sort of blew that plan out of the water" she chuckled lightly. He smiled more.

"I promise not to be in hospital the next time you want to tell me I'm having a child" he chuckled. However he stopped, doing that hurt a little in his chest.

"You alright?" she then asked, looking down at his chest.

"Yeah, It'll be fine" he smiled. Nothing, not even his chest wound could make him any less happy right now.

"Your hero complex is going to be the death of me one day" she said, smiling softly at him.

"You are the one who insists that I have such a complex" he grinned. She chuckled. God, he still can't believe he's going to be a father.

"No matter if you deny it or not, you do Tony. Just try be a little less Batman for my sake, please?" she said. She knew that saying Batman would have him smiling. But he understood what she meant, that even know he was a man who did what he did, risked himself for others, that maybe he should think about the risks he's taking before bursting into action. And now that it's not just himself he's hurting when he puts himself on the line, it's different. Now it's Ziva and his child too, taking that risk means so much more than ever before.

And now that he realises this, he doesn't think he wants to be the hero anymore. All he wants to be is a father. It's one thing he's always wanted.

"I'll always try when it comes to my family" Tony whispered to her. The smile she returned was his favorite, it was _his_ special smile. She leant in and placed a kiss to his lips, because every hero needs a woman by his side right? And she was _that_ woman.

He may not be able to help change his complex, but he can be the hero who is a man who does what he can. And he will do whatever he can for anyone, but when it came to his family, he would do so much more.


End file.
